Roundup 18 August 2023 News
Aug 18, 2023 • 4 min Read
Missing Bilibid inmate claims he escaped by disguising himself as a visitor | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The missing inmate of the New Bilibid Prison — initially presumed dead, then recaptured by police somewhere in Rizal — had allegedly escaped the maximum security facility by pretending to be a visitor, according to authorities.
The chief of the Angono Municipal police station chief said in an interview with Radyo 630 that Michael Cataroja claimed he had timed his escape from the NBP by slipping out during visitation hours.
“He said just walked casually out of the maximum security area. He simply went along with a visitor. Supposedly, it was visiting day, so he just tagged along,” Police Major Lauro Leyva Moratillo said in Filipino.
Cataroja has been missing since July and was previously thought to have been decapitated, according to information cited by Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, but he later said it was “fake news.”
A search involving trained dogs had found a bone inside a septic tank at the maximum security compound of the national penitentiary. While authorities initially thought this belonged to Cataroja, representatives from the National Bureau of Investigation later bared during a House hearing that the bone came from a chicken, not human remains.
This led authorities to turn their search outside the NBP. Cataroja was rearrested on Thursday by Angono police.
Full Story at: Missing Bilibid inmate claims he escaped by disguising himself as a visitor | Philstar.com
Senate inquiry into Bilibid ‘mass grave’ shifts focus to escape of missing inmate | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Senate’s ongoing probe into the alleged mass grave at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) is taking a new direction, centering on the escape of the missing inmate from the national penitentiary.
In a statement released on Friday, Sen. Francis Tolentino, the chairman of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, said they have pivoted to uncover the circumstances that allowed the person deprived of liberty (PDL) to slip away from NBP’s maximum security compound.
The decision follows the re-arrest of 25-year-old Michael Angelo Catarejo by authorities in Angono, Rizal more than a month after he was reported missing by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
“Matutuon ngayon ang hearing ng Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights kung paano nakatakas si PDL Michael Cataroja at kung ano ang naging kapabayaan ng [Bureau of Corrections] sa hearing sa Martes, Aug. 22, 2023,” Tolentino said.
(The upcoming Senate hearing will dig into how Michael Cataroja escaped and any possible lapses of the Bureau of Corrections. The hearing is set for Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023.)
Cataroja, sentenced to 12 to 20 years for violations of the Anti-Fencing Act Law, was initially reported missing on July 15. He was then apprehended on Thursday, August 17.
Full Story at: Senate inquiry into Bilibid ‘mass grave’ shifts focus to escape of missing inmate | Philstar.com
Cagayan Gov. Mamba says he was excused from House hearings | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba said Friday he was surprised by the detention order against him by a House of Representatives joint panel since he claimed he was excused from attending its hearings.
The House committee on public accounts and the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms on Thursday cited Mamba for contempt and later approved a motion to have him detained in the chamber for supposedly being absent in many of its hearings.
The joint panel is investigating Mamba’s alleged public spending during election season.
However, Mamba said he was already excused from attending the panel hearings.
Full Story at: Cagayan Gov. Mamba says he was excused from House hearings | Inquirer News
Occidental Mindoro declares Pura Luka Vega ‘persona non grata’ | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Drag artist Pura Luka Vega has once again been declared “persona non grata,” this time in Occidental Mindoro.
The drag artist — whose real name is Amadeus Fernando Pagente — is now unwelcome and prohibited in the province following a resolution approved by Occidental Mindoro Provincial Council headed by Vice Governor Diana Tayag.
“Ito ay kinakailangang gawin upang magsilbing aral at hindi na pamarisan… upang maipagpatuloy ang paggalang at pananampalataya sa ating Diyos Amang Lumikha, hindi lamang ng mga kabataan, kundi pati na rin ng buong Mamamayang Mindoreño,” the council said in a statement.
(This must be done to serve as a lesson and so as not to become a precedent… to continue the respect and faith in our God the Father, Creator, not just by the youth but all of the Mindoreños.)
Full Story at: Occidental Mindoro declares Pura Luka Vega ‘persona non grata’ | Inquirer News
